[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 116 (Thursday, September 15, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1871]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    FREEDOM FOR OSCAR MARIO GONZALEZ

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 15, 2005

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
speak about Oscar Mario Gonzalez, a political prisoner in totalitarian 
Cuba.
  Mr. Gonzalez is an independent journalist and pro-democracy activist 
in totalitarian Cuba. His peaceful, pro-democracy activities and 
truthful articles have helped the world to learn the facts about the 
nightmare that is the Castro regime. Unfortunately, the dictatorship 
forcefully represses those who bravely support freedom and rise in 
resistance to the despotic regime.
  According to Reporters Without Borders, on March 24, 2005, Mr. 
Gonzalez was summoned and questioned by regime agents, who threatened 
that he would not be able to see his family again if he continued 
practicing as an independent journalist. Despite these gangster tactics 
and heinous threats, Mr. Gonzalez continued to demand basic human 
rights for the people of Cuba.
  As part of the tyrant's heinous July 2005 crackdown on peaceful pro-
democracy opponents, on July 22, Mr. Gonzalez was arrested as he tried 
to participate in a peaceful demonstration outside the French Embassy 
in Havana, demanding the release of political prisoners in Cuba. As 
part of this vicious crackdown, approximately 33 brave opponents were 
arrested at home, on their way to the demonstration or on the sidelines 
of the gathering.
  According to CubaNet, Mr. Gonzalez has been charged with violating 
Law 88. This is the same sham law that the tyrannical regime used to 
wrongly convict many of the prodemocracy activists arrested in March 
2003.
  Mr. Gonzalez is a brilliant example of the heroism of the Cuban 
people. Despite incessant repression, harassment, incarceration and 
abuse, he remains committed to the conviction that freedom of the press 
and democracy are the inalienable right of the Cuban people. It is a 
crime against humanity that Castro's totalitarian gulags are full of 
men and women, like Mr. Gonzalez, who represent the best of the Cuban 
nation.
  Mr. Speaker, let me be very clear, Mr. Gonzalez is languishing in the 
grotesque squalor of the gulag because he desires freedom for all 
Cubans. My Colleagues, we must demand the immediate and unconditional 
release of Oscar Mario Gonzalez and every political prisoner in 
totalitarian Cuba.

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